Adventures in Comalan: Stormview Peninsula

While the majority of the charted world consists of the continent of Mortanis and the various islands of Midania, these lands only cover Comalan's northern hemisphere. These lands remain the only parts of the known world to the majority of its inhabitants because the southern hemisphere's atmosphere is considered to be hostile even to the most seasoned explorers. The powerful currents that Mariknights have grown accustomed to in the north are gentle compared to the towering, violent waves that compose the seas of the region known as the Hydrospace. These currents, combined with deadly hurricanes and torrential rainstorms that are common to the region, make it seem unlikely that anyone could exist there. Despite this, immigrants still manage to find their way to Mortanis with epic tales of their escape from the Hydrospace. To these weary travelers, the gentle climate of countries such as Galeon and Resta is a heavenly reprieve from the terrifying conditions in which they were born.

Those who hear these tales often consider the immigrants' trials to be a sufficient deterrent from exploring the southern hemisphere. However, Comalan has no shortage of adventurers willing to brave danger for undiscovered treasures and glorious exploration. While it is true that no ship exists that's capable of braving the dangers of Hydrospace, there is a little known land that serves a gateway to the region's continent of Nerastia. This northernmost region, accessible still to only the most skilled of sailors with the most advanced ships, is known as Stormview Peninsula. All paths for those who escape the southern continent pass through this land, and it's only through the details of their journeys that anyone has ever found this two-hundred mile stretch of land.

One who reaches Stormview Peninsula will find a city called Gate City, which is technologically advanced even by Galean standards. Metal spires interconnected by a series of magically reinforced arches were erected here to protect travelers. At the very tip of the peninsula is a massive dome that encloses the city's port. This city stands a testament to the Hydrospace's greatest lure for Mortanisian and Midanian adventurers: despite the extreme weather that batters the lands of Nerastia, the people of this continent have persevered only because of these technological and magical secrets. Expeditions from both Resta and Galeon have made attempts to contact representatives of Gate City to trade engineering and magical knowledge only to find that the port dome is not designed to take incoming ships, but to build new ships to send people north.

To the south of Gate City lies Keystone, a battered village that was built by a joint Galean-Tanisian expedition to provide a safe harbor for Mortanisians. However, this town has long since been abandoned because maintaining a functioning community in the face of hurricanes without a safe way to acquire new resources, especially food, has proven to be a daunting task. Envoys continue to be unsuccessful at making contact with representatives of Gate City to learn how anyone could survive there indefinitely.

Since the beginning of the Third Age, the four countries of Mortanis have joined with Midania to form a coalition to settle Stormview Peninsula once and for all and establish diplomacy with Nerastia, but it is constantly hindered by the unstable relationship between these nations (particularly due to the hatred between Heron and both Galeon and Tanis, as well as the distrust between Resta and Midania). However, the synergy of the newly formed Starlight Crusade has renewed hope that establishing a link with the Hydrospace. Since the Crusade's success on the planet Allene, the coalition to settle Nerastia has reformed to plan another attempt. While they plan to wait for the world's most capable explorers and sailors to return from their war with the sho'kai, they have begun to take applications from those who didn't leave with the Crusade. This provides an opportunity for eager adventurers who missed their chance to fly off into the stars to be a part of history. Though it can't be stressed enough that the dangers of this expedition outweigh the perceived benefits, the Nerastian immigrants have whispered enough of their experiences to stoke the imagination of countless explorers.